Rainbow Warriors football snags signature win over Air Force, 27-13

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Rainbow Warriors football team is coming off their first signature win in the ‘Timmy Chang era’ after knocking off Mountain West leader Air Force Saturday night in Manoa.

There was a renewed energy in this team, two weeks removed from a shutout loss to San Jose State, the ‘Bows have rattled off two wins in a row, most recently getting the 27-13 upset over Air Force.

There was an F22 flyover pregame for military night and UH’s fighter jets were off early, Hawaii gets their first opening drive touchdown of the season thanks to Pofele Ashlock.

From there the defense put up a herculean effort shutting down the Falcons triple option offense — they took a 13-3 lead into the break.

They were able to hold off an Air Force comeback with four defensive turnovers in the fourth quarter, one resulting in a TD for a final score of 27-13.

The Kuter Trophy returns to the islands for the first time since 2016.

“The best teams are player led and it’s starting to get that way, their energy is unbelievable,” Head coach Timmy Chang told reporters after the game. “It’s been like that the last two weeks, you know, there’s nothing different in scheme.”

“The guys in the past and everybody and all the coaches were just telling us that’s not Hawaii football and I think these past two games are really what, that’s what that’s supposed to be about,” Brayden Schager added. “We’ve been carrying that energy over and just buying in.”

UH heads to Laramie to take on Wyoming for the Paniolo Trophy.